Central Frontenac Council - Jul 13/10

Jeff Green | Jul 15, 2010

Fire crews lead the way in medical emergencies

Central Frontenac Fire Chief Mark MacDonald, along with Deputy Fire Chiefs Art Cowdy and Bill Young, presented the long-anticipated Fire Master Plan for the township this week.

“There are many different avenues to take with a master plan,” said Mark MacDonald in presenting the document. “Some are very descriptive and are hundreds of pages long. Our plan gives everybody an idea of what is going on now and where we want to get to over the next few years. It should be looked at again after a few years.”

The 16-page plan, which includes 6 appendices, outlines the community, the makeup of the fire department, the stations and equipment, an equipment replacement schedule, and a description of the kinds of calls the department responds to.

It was the description of the calls that sparked the greatest amount of interest among members of Council. Over the past five years, the department has responded to about 1250 calls. The largest single category of calls is medical calls (31%), followed by fire calls (19%), motor vehicle collisions (14%), and grass and brush fires (4%). A variety of other calls, including complaints, odour investigations, false alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, ice/water rescues etc. account for a further 32% of calls.

In the majority of cases, the fire department is able to answer medical calls more quickly than the Frontenac land ambulance, and according to a tiered response agreement the fire department is called into all land ambulance calls that are of a more serious nature.

The number of medical calls is going up, according to MacDonald. “This year it is close to 40%, and last month, for example, half our calls were medical calls,” he said

“It's time the municipality started communicating with the Ministry of Health. They should be supporting some of our costs for medical calls since they subsidize the ambulance service that we support. I believe a lot of your training is medical,” said Councilor Frances Smith.

“The vast majority of our training is indeed medical,” said Mark MacDonald. “When the tiered response started the training was provided for free. But over time all of the costs have been transferred to the fire departments.”

“That's a pretty fundamental observation,” said Councilor Gary Smith. “Should we doing those medical assists or should it be done through the expansion of the ambulance service?”

“I see this as an important discussion,” said Councilor Norm Guntensperger, who is a former fire department member, “but I would hate to see any of the public put at risk. To me, and I may be biased, the most valuable part of our service is the medical part. Yes, the ministry needs to step up to the plate, and ambulance service should be improved, but we can't back off from medical services; we've saved a lot of lives. When the boys arrive a lot of people are very happy when their loved ones are ill.”

Mayor Janet Gutowski said she would raise the matter at the rural caucus of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario later this year.

The Fire Master Plan will be brought back to a meeting of Council on August 13 for adoption.

COMPREHENSIVE ZONING BYLAW:

Township Planning Consultant Glenn Tunnock made a preliminary presentation to council of the revised Central Frontenac comprehensive zoning bylaw.

With the township’s renewed Official Plan having been approved with the exception of one provision, the necessary update of the comprehensive zoning bylaw is under way.

Tunnock outlined a number of changes. For one thing, all of the minor variances to the bylaw that have been approved by the township since the bylaw took effect in 2003 are incorporated into the new bylaw, as are changes that result from new provisions in the revised Official Plan.

In discussing the proposed bylaw, Mayor Gutowski expressed the concern that when people approach the township with a proposal to develop a piece of property, they are faced with a set of rules that can be a hindrance to development. “We need good planning practices to be in place,” she said, “but we need to let people know how to navigate our system. We need to make it easier to develop property. We need to work with people more.”

Glenn Tunnock said he might be able to produce a document that outlines the steps that need to be taken by developers of all sizes. The comprehensive zoning bylaw will be considered at a dedicated Council session, but it will first be considered at an open house and a public meeting. The open house, and possibly the public meeting as well, will be scheduled for August in order to encourage summer residents to attend.

MOUNTAIN GROVE RECREATION PLAN – Plans to move the Mountain Grove ball field from its location next to the township dump and works yard to a location in between the public school and the fire hall have been proceeding through the work of an ad hoc public committee and the Olden Recreation Committee.

Township Public Works Manager Mike Richardson has been acting as a resource to the process and he brought a preliminary report to Council.

“This will have to go back to the ad hoc committee before it is considered by Council,” Richardson said.

Councilor Guntensperger asked if any work would be done on the project this year, and Richardson said some preparatory work for a new ballfield could be done.

The plan includes building washroom facilities at the new park. It also includes, with the backing of the fire chief, the relocation of the live fire training centre for the township to the dump site/works garage site. The fire training centre is currently located in the vicinity of the proposed recreation facility, across Highway 7.

Councilor Bill Snyder said the process was moving too quickly and people in Mountain Grove are bound to be disappointed when the township does not have enough money for all the plans they are making.

“It seems to me this is being pushed too far,” Snyder said. “It started with a ball field and then other stuff keeps getting added on. Where is the money going to come from?”

“We have not spent very much money here. There is only $10,000 aside for this,” Councilor Norm Guntensperger responded.

Guntensperger then made reference to money that has been spent on one of Bill Snyder's own pet projects, the Piccadilly hall. “$10,000 is not much compared to what was spent in your district, $75,000 for your old hall,” he said.

(The actual allocation in the 2010 budget to repairs to the Piccadilly hall was $52,000)

Mayor Gutowski said, “The process has been appropriate. The committee will have to make some decisions and then they will have to come back to us with a proposal. We will have the opportunity to consider their proposal at that time. Our hands are not tied by anything that has taken place thus far.”

SIGNS, SIGNS, WHERE ARE THE SIGNS?

Councilor Frances Smith asked the public works manager if steps were being taken to replace a number of road signs that have come down over the past year or so.

Richardson said he has not done enough thus far in his tenure (he has been working in the township for about year) to deal with replacing damaged or removed signs, but that he was proposing that a new position be created to cover that gap and others.

Central Frontenac Council- July 13 by Julie Druker

Central Frontenac to accept fridges, air conditioners for free – move to clear bags for waste

The Central Frontenac Waste Management Committee recommended that the township allow for the free disposal of white goods such as refrigerators and air conditioners with the municipality taking responsibility to remove freon from those items at no charge. The idea is to encourage the safe disposal of these items, with the added benefit that the township will make some money from the salvaged metal. Council accepted the recommendation.

A second recommendation made by Public Works Manager Mike Richardson was that the municipality stop using bag tags and start using clear plastic bags with township names printed on them as a way of better identifying waste derived from residents and businesses. This will also to provide one more level of inspection to identify recyclables that need to be diverted.

In his report, Richardson also recommended that the bags be sold at the municipal office and at waste sites. The bags would cost the township 17 cents as compared to 1 cent for the bag tags. They would be sold for $1, the same price that a bag tag is sold for.

After much discussion regarding enforcement, costs and other related issues, a motion was unanimously passed to adopt the change to clear bags, leaving the other details open for later discussion.

Green Energy Task Force: There was much discussion about a motion put forth for the township to investigate the installation of two rooftop solar Micro-FIT projects, one at the District #3 fire hall and the second at the community centre in Arden. Councilor Bill Snyder wondered what happened to the possibility of investigating a solar project at the Godfrey garage. Public Works manager Mike Richardson answered that the Godfrey roof only offers 6000 square feet of space and it is recommended that each project have 10,000 square feet to be feasible.

Councilor Gary Smith expressed a concern about the “fuzziness” of the financial implications to the township for these projects and wondered about the likelihood that the project will end up costing the township some money, at least in the short term.

“Yes there is a possibility, but this council would also receive the benefits of the revenues that would be generated,” said Mayor Gutowski.

CAO John Duchene clarified that “the key here is to just get on board to investigate these two locations and to bring those findings back to council.”

Councilor John Purdon wondered why Frontenac County just doesn't take full responsibility for the green energy projects, to which the mayor responded, “We think the best option is for townships to investigate their own projects and perhaps the county might end up taking them over.”

In the end a motion passed to investigate the two roof top locations.

Equipment Purchase

A motion was passed to purchase a like-new 740 grader for half the regular cost, totaling $130,000 plus tax.

Completion of work on the Arden bridge

A motion was passed to complete work on the Arden bridge using any surplus building funds that are left over this year.

New public works position

Mike Richardson recommended creating a new public works position with the title Public Works Coordinator who would be responsible for managing a number of things like bridges, quarries, waste sites, municipal drains, as well as producing and administering various contracts. After much discussion council passed a motion receiving the memo for information.

Livestock valuations

Two livestock valuations for F. Lloyd and B. Warren were each approved after each lost a cow, the first to a wolf, the second to a bear. They will be compensated in the amounts of $945 and $1000 respectively.

$95 for election audit committee members

Council also approved a motion to pay $95 per diem to members of the election compliance audit committee, a new joint committee to be formed in compliance with the election act.